News

Eighteen months after the tragic shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Wellmore Behavioral Health will now ‘stand down’ from its intensive, crisis response and school-based recovery effort but will remain a part of the plan for longer term community support. The Waterbury-based Wellmore Behavioral Health was among the earliest responders on site on December 14, 2012, sending nearly two dozen mental health professionals through its Emergency Mobile Psychiatric Service (EMPS), a program funded by the State of Connecticut Department of Children and Families. Since the moments after the shooting, Wellmore has served over 700 children, parents, educators and families through on-site counseling, home-based outreach, community meetings and school-based care.

NEW CANAAN — New Canaan police have charged a Newtown man with first-degree larceny in connection with his alleged theft of a diamond worth $40,000 while he was doing carpet work in a home on Weed Street. Police spokeswoman Sergeant Carol Ogrinc said this week that police charged Mario J. Pizighelli, 50, of 29 Botsford Hill Road on a warrant on June 10 at the police station in connection with an incident that occurred on May 5. Pizighelli posted $75,000 bail and was released from custody. He has not pleaded to the charge in Norwalk Superior Court. Pizigehlli is next scheduled to appear in court on July 17.

Released late last month, "Community Connections: Town of Newtown 12-14-12 Resource Guide" is a new edition of a book published in November by Sandy Hook resident Sharon L. Cohen. Now a collaborative effort between the Town and Ms Cohen, the reference source offers a historic document of the massive volunteer and nonprofit efforts that occurred within town in response to the shooting on December 14, 2012, at Sandy Hook Elementary School that took the lives of six women and 20 children; continues to increase awareness of the different organizations in order to promote collaboration, while also addressing gaps in services; and serves as a representation of positive community change. Unlike its predecessor, "Community Connections" is a resource guide that is available to read in a number of public locations but it is not available to purchase. It is also available to read as an online PDF, however.

The Connecticut Sun women’s basketball team honored three 2014 Women of Inspiration, including Newtown resident Rebecca Kowalski, during a pregame reception and halftime ceremony when the Sun hosted the Indiana Fever at Mohegan Sun Arena June 7. Ms Kowalski was honored alongside former governor Jodi Rell, who received the Margo Dydek Award. Heather Ciarletto, who inspired and led a social justice and diversity initiative at Wethersfield High School, was also honored during the event. “We are so pleased to recognize these three individuals,” Connecticut Sun Vice President and General Manager Chris Sienko said. “All of them, in their own way, are changing lives and positively impacting people and we are honored to have them as our 2014 Women of Inspiration.”

The 2014 Kelly Report on Gun Violence in America, released Wednesday, June 25, is the first collaboration of its kind between members of Congress, gun safety advocates, and public health/academic communities on the nation’s gun violence epidemic. Written by Congresswoman Robin Kelly (D-IL), the report is, according to her website, “the first-ever Congressional analysis of the nation’s gun violence epidemic that offers a blueprint for ending the crisis.” The contributors to the report include Representative Mike Thompson (D-CA), chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force; Representative Marcia Fudge (D-OH), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus; Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. Contributors also include The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, NAACP, National Urban League, Americans for Responsible Solutions, Center for American Progress, Duke University, University of Chicago Crime Lab, Harvard University School of Public Health and John Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Police continue to investigate a serious motor vehicle accident that occurred late on the night of Saturday, June 21, in which a SUV carrying three 24-year-old women, while traveling eastward on Berkshire Road (Route 34) near the Monroe town line, drove off the right road shoulder and then went down a ravine, striking several trees before coming to rest near a stream. The intense impacts of the multiple rollover accident resulted in serious injuries to two of the three occupants of the heavily damaged 2011 Audi Q-5, officials said. Two of the women in the accident had been released from St Vincent's Hospital by midweek. The third remained in critical condition at Yale-New Haven Hospital as of June 26.

The Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT) will close a section of Interstate 84 in both directions in Southington from 9 pm Friday night, June 27, until early Monday morning, June 30. Major traffic delays are anticipated. Two bridges that carry I-84 over Marion Avenue — one eastbound and one westbound — are being replaced with new structures. The replacement is what is requiring the complete closure of I-84 in both directions for the weekend.